The Veteran's claim for service connection for alcoholism was denied as a matter of law due to the prohibition on direct service connection for alcohol or drug abuse based on claims filed after October 31, 1990.
The deciding factor: The Veteran filed his claim in July 2007, which is after the passage of Congressional legislation prohibiting the grant of direct service connection for alcohol abuse based on claims filed on or after October 31, 1990.
- Claimed conditions
- Alcoholism
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 22, 2009
- Citation
- 0927334
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0927334.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for PTSD was dismissed due to an improper concurrent election of review options, and the claim for alcoholism was denied as a matter of law.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an earlier effective date for the award of service connection for PTSD beginning March 16, 2010 and denied a motion for revision of an August 2007 rating decision on the basis of clear and unmistakable error (CUE). The Board also granted service connection for alcoholism, major depressive disorder, congestive heart failure, cardiomyopathy, sleep apnea, and increased ratings for PTSD.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claim of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder due to a lack of a VA medical examination and opinion prior to rating his disability. The Veteran is diagnosed with multiple psychiatric disabilities, including depression, anxiety, irritability and anger, trauma/stressor-related disorder, and alcoholism. The Board requires a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of these conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to an inadequate VA medical opinion regarding the cause of death and its relation to service-connected conditions.
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